News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs
1. Korean War Records | Newspapers & Articles
2. Korea: The war that never ended continues
3. Moon Hails 'Honest' Kim Jong-un in TIME Interview
4. N. Korea seen marking Korean War anniversary in low-key fashion
5. S. Korea holds 71st Korean War anniversary event for first time in Busan
6. Satellite imagery suggests ongoing expansion of N. Korean airbase for larger aircraft
7. Ending S. Korea-U.S. working group on N.K. not an incentive for Pyongyang: ex-Moon adviser
8. Korea-U.S. alliance remains linchpin of peace 71 years after start of Korean War: Pentagon
9. Sinuiju authorities change tack in trying to wean people off of Chinese mobile phones
10. S. Korea expresses 'deep regret' over IOC's response to Dokdo issue
11. North Korea’s Missiles and Nuclear Weapons: Everything You Need to Know
12. Kim Yo Jong: What We Know About Kim Jong Un’s Sister and Her Role in North Korea
13. SOCKOR Welcomes New Commander
14. What ails Biden’s bid to re-engage North Korea talks
15. Can Maximum Pressure Destabilize North Korea and Its Nuclear Ambitions?
16. North Korea food shortage: Kim Jong-un’s COVID-19 policy could lead to mass starvation
17. The Defiant Failed State: How Stable is North Korea Right Now?
18. North Korea's Enduring Economic and Security Presence in Africa
19. S. Korea, U.S. see dialogue with N.K. as still possible despite Pyongyang's rejection
1. Korean War Records | Newspapers & Articles
2. Korea: The war that never ended continues
North Jersey · by Carl J. Asszony
No major articles in the major media outlets on the Korean War anniversary. Still the Forgotten War for the most part.
3. Moon Hails 'Honest' Kim Jong-un in TIME Interview
english.chosun.com · June 25, 2021
Excerpts: “TIME noted that Kim "murdered his uncle and half-brother in cold blood and, according to a landmark 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry, presides over 'crimes against humanity' including extermination, torture, rape and causing prolonged starvation."
"For many North Korea watchers, Moon's steadfast defense of Kim is verging on delusional," it added.
Asked about the chances of dialogue with North Korea before he leaves office, Moon said, "I know that I don't have much time myself... The peace we have right now is a very fragile one; it can be shaken at any time."
But he claimed his "constant dialogue and communication" with Kim have led to "mutual trust." There has been no communication between the two Korean leaders since 2019, and North Korea has angrily rebuffed all South Korean advances.
4. N. Korea seen marking Korean War anniversary in low-key fashion
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · June 25, 2021
Excerpts: “The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, in particular, carried just two articles on the Korean War on Friday, without any relevant photos.
In those articles, the North repeated its claims that the war broke out due to imperialists' invasion, and its late state founder and grandfather of the current leader, Kim Il-sung, led the nation to victory.
The paper, instead, reported on leader Kim joining a music performance held after a recent key party meeting, and a trip to a chicken farm under construction by Choe Ryong-hae, a top party official, in its front-page articles.
The Korean War broke out after North Korean troops invaded the South on June 25, 1950, with backing from China and the Soviet Union. It ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
5. S. Korea holds 71st Korean War anniversary event for first time in Busan
en.yna.co.kr · by 장동우 · June 25, 2021
6. Satellite imagery suggests ongoing expansion of N. Korean airbase for larger aircraft
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · June 25, 2021
What does this mean? A bigger target for ROK/US air power. (note tongue in cheek though it is true allied airpower will destroy this airfield after north Korea attacks the South))
Buried lede: Summer training cycle? Does north Korea conduct major training twice a year? The Summer Training Cycle and the Winter Training Cycle? Why are there no complaints about that training? Why should the ROK/US Combined Forces Command have to forgo defensive training when there is no reciprocity from the north and it continues its offensive training to prepare for an attack on the South: "The timing of the project and its associated aircraft movements were apparently designed to coincide, in part, with the KPAF annual summer training cycle, when KPAF aircraft are redeployed for flight training and to test operational readiness," it said.
The report also noted the Sunchon airbase is a major airbase that houses two units of the 1st Air Combat Division, with Su-25K aircraft and a squadron equipped with MiG-29B/SE/UB fighters that it said are aged, but are "some of the most modern and capable aircraft in the KPAF's inventory."
7. Ending S. Korea-U.S. working group on N.K. not an incentive for Pyongyang: ex-Moon adviser
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · June 25, 2021
Here is something on which I agree with Moon Chung-in. ending this working group will not sway KJU. But where Professor Moon and I disagree is that the termination of this working group is based on ignorance, misunderstanding, and politics and demonstrates a significant level of immaturity among some members of the Moon administration and the ruling party who have long opposed this working group.
On another note, is Moon Chung-in call for some kind of secret Moon-Kim summit and then "announcing it afterward?" How will tat work? Why would Kim agree to such a "summit?"
"What's the most important are the talks between the South and the North," Moon said. "For that, we need to have a leaders' summit. We can have one unofficially and announce it afterwards," he said.
8. Korea-U.S. alliance remains linchpin of peace 71 years after start of Korean War: Pentagon
The Korea Times · June 25, 2021
Thank you Admiral Kirby for honoring the anniversary of the war and our alliance.
9. Sinuiju authorities change tack in trying to wean people off of Chinese mobile phones
dailynk.com · Lee Chae Un · June 25, 2021
I am sure to the inminban everyone is suspected of being a spy.
Excerpts: “The exhibition visits are followed by trips to the counter-espionage department of the provincial branch of the Ministry of State Security, where officials lecture participants on the “evils” of using Chinese mobile phones.
Counter-espionage officials reportedly stressed to lecture attendees that “there are many spies in our country [North Korea]. The border region is the area with the most spies.”
The lecturers told attendees that they should “unconditionally” turn themselves in if they are carrying a Chinese-made mobile phone, promising them a “last chance” in accordance with an order from the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to “forgive those who surrender themselves right away.” That is to say, the authorities are equating possession of a Chinese-made mobile phone with espionage, and if the owners hide them, it means they are “engaging in schemes against the Republic [North Korea].”
10. S. Korea expresses 'deep regret' over IOC's response to Dokdo issue
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · June 25, 2021
11. North Korea’s Missiles and Nuclear Weapons: Everything You Need to Know
WSJ · by Timothy W. Martin
The "treasured sword" is...well... treasured. These are key to deterrence, prestige, pride, political warfare, and blackmail diplomacy. Would you give them up?
12. Kim Yo Jong: What We Know About Kim Jong Un’s Sister and Her Role in North Korea
WSJ · by Andrew Jeong
An evil woman who I suspect can be as, if not more, harsh and brutal as her brother.
Excerpts: “She has been seen as an influential North Korean aide to the country’s leader due to her relationship with Kim Jong Un and participation in major diplomatic meetings with the U.S., China and South Korea. Her harsh rhetoric directed toward senior South Korean officials in 2020—including President Moon Jae-in —was seen as unusual by Seoul officials, as they had shared private conversations and drinks with Ms. Kim in recent inter-Korean meetings. Most remembered her as soft-spoken and polite.
In the U.S., she was sometimes perceived to be an unofficial counterpart to Ivanka Trump, who as the first daughter had advised and accompanied her father to diplomatic engagements with North Korea. The two also crossed paths in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Ms. Kim attended the opening ceremony as the unofficial head of the North Korean delegation, while Ms. Trump attended the closing ceremony as the leader of the U.S. delegation.
Ms. Kim has also been seen as a complicit violator of human rights by human rights organizations and the U.S. government. Her senior role in North Korea makes her partly responsible for the Kim regime’s continued executions, incarcerations and oppression of political prisoners, they say. Her role in a government propaganda department also links her to the Kim regime’s censorship activities, the Treasury Department said in January 2017, when it added her to its sanctions list.
13. SOCKOR Welcomes New Commander
Congratulations to Major General Martin and the SOCKOR team. I had the honor of knowing when I was on the faculty at the National War College. It is great to see his success with the continued opportunity to serve and make a difference. And congratulations for a great job by BG Otto Liller. I am sorry to hear that he will be retiring. SOCKOR has come a long way from SOC-K that was headquartered in an old Japanese army bath house (latrine) next to the 8th Army HQ on Yongsan and then in an old Japanese morgue (where suspected Japanese biological warfare experiments took place) on Camp Kim.
I am pleased to see the emphasis on the combined nature of SOCKOR with the ROKA Special Warfare Command by General Clarke: “The event was also attended virtually by U.S. Army Gen. Richard D. Clarke, U.S. Special Operations Command commander, who spoke of Liller’s contributions as leading the only theater special operations command in which U.S. and host nation special operations forces are institutionally organized for combined operations.”
14. What ails Biden’s bid to re-engage North Korea talks
asiatimes.com · by Swaran Singh · June 24, 2021
Unfortunately there is no getting around it. denuclearization must be an objective that we strive to achieve. Giving up and allowing the Kim family regime to have a nuclear state is not something we can accept. Of course timing and the path to get to denuclearization are the keys. We will not have denuclearization tomorrow or. next month, or next year.
We must answer the question of what is the acceptable, durable political arrangement on the Korean peninsula that will serve, protect, and advance US and ROK/US alliance interests?
15. Can Maximum Pressure Destabilize North Korea and Its Nuclear Ambitions?
The National Interest · by Timo Kivimäki · June 24, 2021
Change cannot occur unless it is supported on a foundation of a comprehensive and sophisticated and well orchestrated informational influence activities campaign executed in a sustained manner over a long period of time.
Unfortunately, the author's concluding recommendation fails to account for the nature, objectives, and strategy for the Kim family regime. Change is not going to occur merely by providing the regime security (and at least not security in the way we should define and offer it).
16. North Korea food shortage: Kim Jong-un’s COVID-19 policy could lead to mass starvation
theconversation.com · by Sojin Lim · June 24, 2021
It is very possible that this could happen. KJU has created the conditions for this to happen.
Excerpts: “Kim’s isolation may have successfully blocked the spread of COVID-19 and external cultural influence among the population, but it has also blocked the channels to basic necessity. Kim will need to reopen the borders in order to avert the second arduous march, but it will be hard for him to find immediate alternatives to mitigate the risks to his regime.
There are signs of gradual resumption of trade between North Korea and China, but it has been limited. As Kim has announced that North Korea needs to prepare for “both dialogue and confrontation” with the US, the international community could take this as an opportunity to approach North Korea again, but with more productive and practical solutions for its isolated people.
17. The Defiant Failed State: How Stable is North Korea Right Now?
The National Interest · by Wallace C. Gregson · June 24, 2021
Important analysis from Lt Gen Gregson: “We cannot predict the outcome. As Cohen and Gooch wrote, all military (and I would posit, national security) failures) result from three failures: failure to learn, failure to adapt, and failure to anticipate. We cannot predict the outcome on the Korean peninsula but we can anticipate the contingencies that are likely to arise (the most dangerous ECOAs and the most likely ECOAs). And if we can anticipate then we can prepare. Preparation is the key.
18. North Korea's Enduring Economic and Security Presence in Africa
38north.org · by Samuel Ramani · June 24, 2021
north Korea is a global security problem.
19. S. Korea, U.S. see dialogue with N.K. as still possible despite Pyongyang's rejection
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · June 25, 2021
It will happen. But only when KJU believes he has an advantage and can achieve some of his objectives.
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On this 71st anniversary of the attack by the communist north to steal freedom from the Republic of Korea:
“Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”
- Korean War Memorial
"In my generation, this was not the first occasion when the strong had attacked the weak. [...] Communism was acting in Korea just as Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had acted ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier. I felt certain that if South Korea was allowed to fall, communist leaders would be emboldened to override nations closer to our own shores."
- President Harry Truman
"All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."
-John Steinbeck